Discover how BlackCloak is revolutionizing digital executive protection with insights from CEO and Co-founder Chris Pierson, who shares their recent $17 million Series B funding success and future plans for scaling their proprietary technology and concierge-level services. Tune in to find out why investors are excited about BlackCloak's unique approach to safeguarding high-profile individuals and their families.
In 7 Minutes on ITSPmagazine, Sean Martin chats with Chris Pierson, CEO and Co-founder of BlackCloak, about their latest milestone in digital executive protection. BlackCloak, a pioneer in protecting executives, senior leaders, high-net-worth individuals, and family offices, has secured $17 million in a Series B funding round led by Baird Capital, with contributions from Blue Heron, TDF, and Tech Operators.
Chris explains that the new funds will focus on scaling the company's operations, building proprietary cybersecurity and privacy technologies, and enhancing their concierge-level services. The goal is to provide specialized protection and remediation for corporate executives, board members, and high-profile individuals, including those in their families' personal lives.
The conversation touches on the increasing need for digital executive protection against breaches, privacy risks, and identity theft. Chris highlights how recent attacks on home environments have accelerated the demand for robust digital security solutions. Investors are drawn to BlackCloak's unique approach and market potential.
Looking ahead, Chris envisions a day in the life of a protected digital executive as one where privacy enhancements and proactive, intelligence-driven alerts become standard. BlackCloak aims to make managing personal cybersecurity seamless, offering reactive support and expert advice along the way. With this fresh investment, the company is poised to capture significant growth in this critical space.
Learn more about BlackCloak:https://itspm.ag/itspbcweb
Note: This story contains promotional content. Learn more.
Guest: Chris Pierson, Founder and CEO of BlackCloak [@BlackCloakCyber]
On Linkedin | https://www.linkedin.com/in/drchristopherpierson/
On Twitter | https://twitter.com/drchrispierson
Resources
Learn more and catch more stories from BlackCloak: https://www.itspmagazine.com/directory/blackcloak
BlackCloak Raises $17M Series B Funding Round to Enhance Personal Cybersecurity Protections for Corporate Executives, High Net Worth Individuals, and Family Offices: https://blackcloak.io/news-media/blackcloak-raises-17m-series-b-personal-cybersecurity-protections-corporate-executives-high-networth-individuals-family-offices/
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$17M Series B Will Accelerate Growth As BlackCloak Further Strengthens Its Personal Cybersecurity Platform And Drives Innovative Products | 7 Minutes on ITSPmagazine | A BlackCloak Short Brand Innovation Story with Chris Pierson
Please note that this transcript was created using AI technology and may contain inaccuracies or deviations from the original audio file. The transcript is provided for informational purposes only and should not be relied upon as a substitute for the original recording, as errors may exist. At this time, we provide it “as it is,” and we hope it can be helpful for our audience.
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Sean Martin: [00:00:00] Here we are. We're ready for another seven minutes on ITSB magazine with a new short brand story. Today I'm joined by Chris Pearson, CEO and co founder of Black Cloak, the pioneer in digital executive protection for executives and senior leaders, high net worth individuals and family offices.
Chris Pierson: Hey, it's great to be here, Sean.
Sean Martin: It's good to see you as always. And, uh, it's a special moment, a special moment where, uh, more people get to experience the goodness that you're bringing to the world. I know you have, you have some extra oomph behind you. To do even more for more folks. And what I'm talking about is a successful series B 17 million funding rounds led by Baird Capital and continued investments by Blue Heron and existing investors, TDF and tech operators.
So, uh, a nice group of folks joining you to, uh, to take you to the next level. What were some of the conversations like, uh, with, with the investors kind of leading this round? What [00:01:00] was the, what was the driver for a lot of them? Coming on board and joining you.
Chris Pierson: Yeah. I mean, I mean, at this stage of the game, it's really, um, you know, it's really about how do you grow, how do you grow and scale the company, the operations, all the rest, they know we have great, great people, amazing people on an amazing team that we can build upon, how do we go and continue to build our own products, our own products, our own technology to go in and tackle digital executive protection.
That's really key. Because you can't grow using other people's stuff. You have to have your own cybersecurity and privacy, uh, technology behind the scenes. So how can you go ahead and harness that and use funding to continue to grow? And then third, really, how do we continue to pour on more value in terms of that concierge?
So the concierge, if we will do anything that we cybersecurity and privacy, uh, protection and remediation for our very special population of corporate executives and board members. And high profile individuals. So really the [00:02:00] conversation is revolved around that revolved around. How do we take something that's been, you know, that's just amazing and already running.
And how do we go ahead and grow and scale that?
Sean Martin: And I'm going to, I'm going to assume, I mean, you talk about three parts. So there's the technology, there's the service, which you've been providing. And then there's this extra level of concierge. That's three different types of people or team members that you need to have and processes And to get investors to say chris pearson and team black cloak team has the as what it takes To deliver on all three of those, uh pretty impressive.
Chris Pierson: It's great I mean it I mean look you have to go ahead and you have to go ahead and pick and select the right people The right culture the right fit And then make sure you build things. And we built a tech enabled service and it's really, really fundamental to have all of those different pieces and parts in alignment, all moving the same direction.
Sean Martin: And so talk a little bit about [00:03:00] the, the market then, because investors want to see growth and ultimately want to return. So there must be a market for each of those three. Um, what, what are you seeing in that regard?
Chris Pierson: Absolutely. I mean, when we take a look at the digital executive protection space, so where we are being hired by the CISO, by the CSO to go ahead and protect their board members, executives, this is something that is a huge pain point for them.
Number one, number two, it's something they don't want to get phone calls on. They don't want the team to getting phone calls on, and they're just not able to go ahead and. Provide that protection for their personal life, privacy and legal release. And for reasons they cannot go ahead and be there for the husband, wife, spouse, kids, significant other of the executives get, they know, right?
The last fast breach, the hitting the fence lines of Uber and Twilio and Zen desk, the old LinkedIn breach. All of these were attacks on individuals in their homes and home environments. It has caused big breaches. It will continue to cause big breaches. And even then, right, we've seen this happen in terms of [00:04:00] others, right.
Terms of extortion being used to speed up ransomware demands for companies being hit because right external pressure on that home, once again, we'll cause that, I mean, We believe have always believed the home is a new battleground and these investors, right? Believe the same thing. They see the potential growth, they see the market space, and really they want to help us capture as much of it as humanly possible.
Sean Martin: And when you hit a B, so you pass C and A and you're onto the B. I would imagine some traction, right? And customer feedback is important. Um, so you, you speak to the, the, the problem breaches aren't going away. They're, they're hitting the executives and landing in organizations. What do you see a lot of traction in terms of understanding of the need for digital executive protection?
Not just the fact that, that they're under attack.
Chris Pierson: Yeah, absolutely. I mean, You know, uh, you know, post COVID it's gotten even easier because people [00:05:00] understand they're always at home. Their home networks are susceptible. Their personal private information is out there. We just had the MPD breach from, uh, uh, from four or five weeks ago.
So they see the stuff in the media, see it continuing to happen. So they're aware of the privacy risks. They're aware of the identity theft risks. They're aware that they are unable to go ahead and protect their personal devices at home or have any rational response to it. They know their home networks are vulnerable with all the amount of IOT and smart home devices, and they recognize that they, they don't have anybody to call.
And so when you get all those things together, it's perfect thing for a pain point for the CISO and CSO, pain point for the executive, the individual and their family, and or just pain point for that high net worth, ultra net worth individual, which is really, really important and meaningful here. I mean, uh, this is really going to accelerate our motions there as well for them, as well as the family offices.
Sean Martin: And can you take this last bit of time, Chris, maybe paint a picture for what the vision looks like for Black Cloak, a day in the life of a protected digital executive. [00:06:00] Um, what, what, what, what will they get, uh, with, with all the new stuff you're bringing, bringing to bear? Well,
Chris Pierson: I mean, you know, right now we're continuing to put in place new privacy enhancements within the app so that they can do things even easier, quicker by themselves, but still have that concierge where they just click on it, are immediately connected into a team member, And we will go ahead and help them do whatever they want to do, or they have that information that comes out each and every day to them in terms of, Hey, this is the one thing we want you to pay attention to or do, or something about a breach or action there, it might be some alerting proactively or reactively that we're seeing on their, uh, uh, personal devices, or it could be that they just got new equipment put in on the weekend, new cameras, new, new smart home, Crestron systems or something, and that's causing a vulnerability.
So it really spans the gamut in terms of reactive, proactive, and just good old fashioned advice and guidance.
Sean Martin: Driven by intelligence. I know one of the things you're going to invest in intelligence. Of course, you and your team are amazing. And, uh, we're super happy to hear this news, Chris, and we're excited for your continued growth.
[00:07:00] And that is seven minutes here on ITSV magazine.